Generation Kill
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Movie Reviews of Generation Kill
Movie Review: A magnificent tragedy
Summary: 5 Stars
A superior drama with excellent dialogue (subtitles recommended) using the argot of the military grunt supplemented by the slang of the working man - afro american, "white" and spanish american - to an exquisite Shakespearian degree, complete with references galore to pop culture of the time - not excluding the pudenda of Jay Lo. A high degree of verisimilitude as a consequence. Excellent in depth characterization illuminated by substantive acting. The book was good but this is better. My son is an Iraq veteran (grunt) and this series covers all the bases: failed strategy, poor leadership, brilliant leadership, shia/sunni conflict, inappropriate role of the Recon marines where an arab speaking, social working, military skills soldiers are required. religion,the need for repair of infrastructure, chaos in Baghdad, absence of WMD, the contempt felt for USA by the world, abuse of civilians - all covered through the grunts POV, and I guess, the imbedded reporter, who flies off in the end leaving behind the Recon Marines, a highly trained, mainly intelligent group of very fit, skilled and mainly honourable group, watching a video replay of the events depicted in the series - Brad, ICE MAN, Sgt and leader, does not watch, and as the laptop show unfolds they all drift away from watching, with regret, sadness,disgust, who knows? and their so called enemy? children, women, old men, Syrian students. Indeed, the last 30 minutes of this series which includes the almost wordless leaving of the Rolling Stone reporter, is worth comparing with Greek Tragedy where the audience is left with a feeling of pity, awe and sadness particularly if we consider the Marine, as a noble symbol that has transformed the often chaotic lives of ordinary mainly working class boys into "noble warriors". What a waste of an amazing resource these men are. A brilliant series.Movie Review: Honest Ground Reconnaissance Perspective | Marine 1st Reconnaissance Battalion
Summary: 5 Stars
I read through the "1 Star Reviews" and was unimpressed, such individuals obviously lost the point of this series completely. After buying and watching the entire series three times, truth is; this series is great; its dead honest. It doesn't glamorize war, killing, or the lifestyle of the Marine 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. If you want a left or right wing slanted view of the war, look elsewhere. If you want a real look at the initial invasion of Iraq, the command level military bravado/arrogance, lack of communication, lack of proper planning/equipment, amazing officers and grunts, as well as the totally incompetent and incapable officers and grunts, and the real feel of the fog of war and how individual personalities "fit" into all of this, this is a great series to watch. I will also add that the "characters" represented here are in-part "played" by the real marines which this story is about. The screenplay was written by the embedded reporter of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, and "lived" with "B-Company" for about 9 weeks. This embed Reporter was advised on the creation this series by the "real" same Marines whom this story is about. It is as accurate as you are going to get for a "mass media" related film, the only closer you can get, is actual footage.
Many complain about the "civilian killing" and "dedicating / urination" content, but to be honest; its accurate. Its no 5 Star hotel nor is it something to be overlooked if you want to be complete and honest. Truth is in war -especially this war, you can never be sure of whom your shooting at until your being shot at, so you do your best to make the right decisions; this series underlines that and the struggle to do this while following -at times, insane orders.
Movie Review: Really brings the book to life, excellent production
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Evan Wright's book back in 2004 and more recently Nathaniel Fick's "One Bullet Away," which covers the same ground from another angle, and am amazed at how well this film captures the images those books created in my head. Everybody deserves a lot of credit here: Wright, for so vividly describing the characters, action, and scenery of that chaotic thrust into Iraq, and the filmmakers for faithfully reproducing his narrative. This is right up there with, or maybe even better than, everyone's favorite HBO production, "The Sopranos." If you're a war film buff, or student of history, or just want more insight into what it was like to charge into Iraq at the "tip of the spear," you can't go wrong here. As icing on the cake, you even have an actual Marine from Fick's platoon, Sgt. Rudy Reyes, starring as himself. Right on, Fruity Rudy! :-) I think most readers of the book will also get a kick out of the personalities of Cpl. Josh Ray Person and Sgt. Anthony Espera, which are very faithful to Wright's description. Cpl. Person's running monologue is a riot.
Interesting thing about this film: There is no music soundtrack, except at the end (killer use of Johnny Cash) and when the Marines amuse themselves singing various pop hits as they ramble through the Iraqi countryside. Also, the special commentary is well worth checking out. There is extra information about some of the officers that the film was not able to include. For example, if you didn't read the book, you may not realize that Lt. Col. Ferrando was highly regarded by Wright, or that "Captain America" and "Encino Man" were not trained as field officers, but just thrown into those positions for expedience. (That's bureaucracy for you, be it military or civilian.)
Movie Review: Gen Y goes to war
Summary: 5 Stars
Based a book by an embedded reporter, Generation Kill is a ground level view of the invasion of Iraq seen through the eyes of young marines.
Everyone goes in with the best of intentions but soon the stupidity of war is on full display, from medal-seeking officers, to incompetent NCOs, to callus soldiers. Early on the unit is issued chemical warfare suits but in jungle colors rather than desert. Later they're low on food and ammo after their commander abandons the supply truck to make better time. In one chilling scene, the marines try to stop a car by firing a smoke grenade as a warning. But the grenade misses, strikes a refugee in the head and kills him. Their reaction is roughly equivalent to a child losing a video game. Later a helicopter destroys an entire building in front of them; they react like they're watching a game.
The attention to detail is incredible; you can even see the difference between the regulars and the reservists by their equipment.
The script is subtle at times; a single line of dialogue explains very complex problems. The jargon and curses are very thick, to the point where the package includes a glossary for civilians.
The last few episodes are particularly interesting as the marines 'break character' and act more human. Even the CO becomes much more sympathetic.
I highly recommend it as a drama, as a war story and as an insight into the Iraq War.
Movie Review: The begging..
Summary: 5 Stars
I was amazed of the miniseries "Band of Brothers," so I was interested about "Generation Kill." I have known several people in the Army (many family members of mine served from Vietnam to Iraq), I wanted to learn about the Marines. This show focused on an elite group, 1st Recon Marines company, that served during the beginning of the Iraq War. One journalist, Evan Wright from the magazine Rolling Stone, spends a few weeks with these men. The series was based on the book written by him.
Even the beginning it is fascinating. You do not know if these men are already in combat! I was amazed to see how advance military technology is. Through the show, you see how each men react during their duty and how they behave. It's real life: drama, comedy, fears, confusion. It's like watching a documentary, and music is not rarely used (except the men singing while driving around Iraq).
Along with the directors and writes, I was quite impressed with the work of the actors, It was a double treat to see Alexander Skarsgard ("True Blood"). He was just wonderful as "Iceman." It's like the show was made for him.
The DVD set included information about military terminology, and it helped me to understand what the men were talking about during the show. I was able to find out why the men used the phrase "Oscar Mike" so often!
Overall, "Generation Kill" made me feel that I was another passenger like Wright. What a ride!